Stronger, healthier and happier

Dear all,

Hot on the heels of Mental Health Awareness Week in the UK, comes our much loved and highly anticipated Enrichment Week 2024. This year’s theme for Mental Health Week UK was all about the positive impact of exercise and being outdoors, and this dovetails beautifully with the Enrichment Week programme which has been so thoughtfully planned for maximum impact for our children.

Some children like to race through mud and water, some like to go to Spain to use their language skills, some like to spend time learning outdoors whilst problem solving with their friends, some like to be part of a crime scene investigation; others like to be taken back in time to the age of dinosaurs or to the days of Vikings or to explore galaxies far far away in our Space Workshop. Some like to build an entire town from Lego, some like to visit the beautiful Leeds Castle and others like to examine wild animals up close. Next week, our pupils will be able to do all of these things and much, much more besides.

All of these are hallmarks of what we proudly call ‘Enrichment Week’ at the Prep. The Collins English dictionary defines the word enrich as ‘to bestow with fine or desirable qualities’. The children can embrace new challenges, stay away from home overnight possibly for the first time and overcome fears that they never believed they could conquer. They make new friends from other classes and get to know teachers who have not taught them yet; this is what enriches them over the course of five magical days at Brentwood Prep. They will certainly ‘develop desirable qualities’ in every sense.

If asked, the vast majority of our pupils will say that Enrichment Week is their favourite week of the school year, and I would say that they certainly deserve it after the recent assessments they have all sat. I hope that the children will convey their sense of enjoyment to you and that you enjoy the stories and images from our various social media platforms that will help form part of the story of the week.

Since September 2021, the pupils have been able to enjoy an academic enrichment programme within their weekly timetables, and all of them have been spending more time learning outdoors. This approach epitomises what a Brentwood education is all about – breadth, opportunity and enjoyment.

Finally, as you can imagine, an Enrichment Week with such variety and ambition doesn’t happen by chance. Mrs Barke has been working on this programme for several months, and I would like to take this opportunity to thank her and the staff in advance on behalf of the children.

Finally, can I ask that we all keep our fingers crossed for some decent weather (certainly for those of us who are UK based).

Have a great (and restful) weekend when it arrives.

Jason Whiskerd